PROLANDSCAPER MAGAZINE, MAY 2026

Originally written for Pro Landscaper, one of the UK’s leading industry publications for landscape professionals, this article explores how working behind the scenes on RHS Chelsea Flower Show gardens has shaped Rigden Studio’s approach to planting design.

What Chelsea taught me about planting

Having worked on four Main Avenue gardens, Chelsea has had a significant influence on the way I approach planting design. The article offers an insight into the lessons I have taken from working on prestigious Chelsea gardens. It explores what happens beyond the finished show garden – from developing a planting concept and choosing plants that work as communities, to considering mature size, spacing, habitat, self-seeding and the subtle relationships between different species.

Beyond the finished show garden

For Rigden Studio, Chelsea has been less about creating perfect show gardens and more about the opportunity to observe, question and refine our understanding of plants – to explore ideas about ecology, sustainability and how plants behave together. These planting principles now underpin much of our work, from high-end private gardens to larger planting schemes.

Applying the Chelsea philosophy to private gardens

Rigden Studio designs with an emphasis on ecologically informed, sustainable planting that responds to the character, conditions and wider context of each site. Rather than simply asking whether a plant will grow in sun or shade, the studio considers where it would naturally occur, how it would interact with neighbouring species and how the planting will develop and change over time.